Direct spinning machine



Dec. 4, 1962 c. B. KINGSBURY DIRECT SPINNING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Feb. 2, 1960 INVENTOR BY RMMM Q ATTORNEY 1952 c. B. KINGSBURY 3,06

DIRECT SPINNING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV E N TORlzadwz'glaflKirgsbzay RAW yw ATTORNEY Dec. 4, 1962 c. B. KINGSBURY3,066,357 DIRECT SPINNING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR x *8 BY R W 1;

ATTORNEY Dec. 4, 1962 c. B. KINGSBURY 3, 6 ,357

DIRECT SPINNING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2, 1960 5 Shets-Sheet 4 I N VE N TORkadwz'clafllizkysbwy ATTORNEY Dec. 4, 1962 c. B. KINGSBURY 3,066,357

DIRECT SPINNING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 &+ O 6. I TII 65 6.5 i I u I 49 I I 46 l l I I I I:

6'6 I N l 60 f INVENTOR kadz'azklsBJfysba y BY MWJM L ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent Ofifice 3&65357 Patented Dec. 4, 1862 3,066,357 DERECTSPINNING MACHINE Chadwick l3. liingsbury, Eiizabethton, Tenn., assignor,by mesne assignments, to Beaunit Mills, Inc., New York, N.Y., acorporation of New York Filed Feb. 2, 1960, Ser. No. 6,178 6 Claims.((31. 19.35)

This invention relates to a machine for the production of spun yarn froma heavy tow composed of a plurality of continuous filaments. Moreparticularly it relates to a drafting apparatus for such a machine.

In the conversion of tow into spun yarn bythe stretchbreak system a setof back or feed rolls draws a bundle of continuous filaments into adrafting zone where the filaments are broken by passing the bundlethrough a set of front or delivery rolls driven at a surface speedsubstantially higher than the surface speed of the feed rolls. Variousnovelty yarns may be made by combining two or more dissimilar materialsto form the bundle supplied to the feed rolls. For example, an end ofcrepe yarn may be combined with untwisted tow to produce a slub yarn.The crepe yarn merely snap breaks while the tow is broken and drafted toform a spun yarn which contains short lengths of crepe yarn in the formof slubs. It will be recognized that satisfactory results can beobtained with this apparatus only if the required roll pressure can bemaintained at all times in both the feed and the delivery roll systems.It will also be recognized that the bundle of broken filaments should beconfined to the normal drafting path of the apparatus. Air currents maydisplace fibers from this path. When making a slub yarn as describedabove the broken crepe ends tend to form kinks or coils which may escapefrom the normal drafting path and even become entangled with the runninggear of the machine. in any event, these kinks or coils will not beincorporated properly in the spun yarn to form the desired slubs.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide means forconfining the fiber bundle to the drafting zone of a stetchbreakspinning machine.

it is a further object to provide a stretch-break spinning machine fiberbundle confining means which may be varied in length with the length ofthe drafting zone of the machine.

It is another object to provide self-threading means for confining thefiber bundle to the drafting zone of a stretch-break spinning machine.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which it relates and from the followingspecification and claims and from the drawing.

Referring to the drawing briefly:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a spinning place of a stretchbreak spinningmachine incorporating this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a drafting apparatus of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a side view, partly in section, of the feed roll system of thedrafting apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view along line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is side section of a draft tube;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view along line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan View taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view along line 9-9 of FIG. 7.

A stretch-break direct spinning machine consists of a tow breaking anddrafting apparatus, and a spinning system, such as a conventional cottonspinning system. The

breaking and drafting apparatus breaks the tow into a.

sliver of staple fibers and drafts the sliver to the extent required forthe production of a spun yarn of the desired count. This drafted sliveris passed directly to the spinning system where it is converted into aspun yarn. Since the spinning system per se is conventional, thisportion of the machine will not be described in detail.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 it will be seen that feed rolls 11 and 12of the tow breaking and drafting apparatus shown are mounted on shaft 13which extends the length of the machine and which is provided withsimilar pairs of feed rolls at each of a plurality of positions. Shaft13 is power driven through suitable gears at the end of the machine.Feed rolls 14 and 15 are mounted on shaft 16 which is horizontallymovable in a pair of slots 17 and 17a formed by two pairs of members 18,19 and 20, 21 extending outwardly from the free end of bracket 22.Bracket 22 is firmly secured to horizontal support member 23 which, inturn, is firmly secured to vertical support members 24, commonly knownas roll stands. Feed rolls 25 and 26 are mounted on shaft 27 which ishorizontally movable in slot 28 in yoke 31, an extension of housing 29.Yoke 31 has an inwardly facing horizontal slot 32 across its free end33. This free end of yoke 31 is positioned between the pairs ofoutwardly extending members 18, 19 and 20, 21 of bracket 22 so that thebuttonhead of rivet 34, positioned One end of bellows 37 in cavity 30bears against washer 38 which is secured to housing 29 by means of snapring 39, while the other end of the bellows bears against head 4t? ofplunger 41. Plunger 41 passes through a bore in housing 29 and yoke 31located so that against shaft 27 causing rolls 25 and 25 to come intocontact with rolls L1 and 12. Then since shaft 27 is slideably carriedby support bracket 43, housing and yoke move inwardly until thebuttonhead of rivet 34 is pressed against shaft 16, causing rolls 14 and15 to come into contact with rolls 11 and 12. Since bellows 37 acts onboth shafts both sets of rolls are under the same pressure. Thecorresponding rolls of the other positions of the machine will be underthe same pressure because fluidis supplied to all bellows from a commonmanifold. Any pressure variation at one position, resulting fromunevenness in the material being processed or the like, will bedistributed over the entire machine through this common manifold andthus minimized. Pressure can be applied to or released on all sets ofrolls by means of a fluid supply control for the entire machine.

The delivery roll System is similar to the feed roll system and cantherefore be described quite briefly. De livery rolls 111 and 112 foreach position are mounted on the shaft 113 which is power driven throughsuitable gears at the end of the machine. Delivery rolls 114 and 115 aremounted on shaft 116 which is horizontally movable in slots 117 and1170, formed by pairs of members 118, 119 and 120, 121 extendingoutwardly from the free end of bracket of the desired count.

The rounded end of plunger 141, actuated by a bellows system. identicalwith that in housing 29, can be pressed into a conical detent in shaft127.

When compressed air or other fluid is admitted to the bellows throughmanifold 144' and flexible tubing 145, rolls 125 and 126 and rolls 114and .115 are brought into contact with rolls 111 and 112 under thedesired pressure, as explained earlier in the description of the feedroll system. Members 146 and 147 of a bracket secured to the under sideof bracket 122 straddle member i148 extending upwardly from yoke 131just above shaft 127 and thus limit the upward movement of the shaft andyoke in addition to maintaining alignment between yoke 1'31 and bracket122.

Draft tube assemblies 46 and 47 extending from a point close to the nipof rolls 11 and to a point close to the nip of rolls 111 and 114, andfrom a point close to the nip of rolls 12 and 26 to a point close to thenip of rolls 112 and 115, confine the slivers to the normal draftingpaths of the apparatus. Elongated tubular member 43 of such an assemblyhas an upwardly facing longitudinal slot 49 and fins 50' and 51. Theupper section52 of the assembly has a bore with two side slots toreceive tubular member 48 and fins 50 and 51, shoulder 53 to serve as astop for the tube, and a flared opening 54 extending outwardly from theshoulder. Upwardly facing flared slot 55 is aligned with slot 49* of thetubular member. The lower or condenser section 56 of the assembly has abore with two side slots to receive tubular member 48 and fins 50 and51, shoulder 57 to serve as a stop for the tubular member and a flaredopening 58 extending outwardly from the shoulder and terminating inanarrow vertical slot 59 aligned with slot 49 of the tubular member.Upwardly facing flared slot 60 is also aligned with slot 49 of thetubular member. To mount the assemblies in operating position on themachine a small shaft 61 secured to bracket 122 is passed through hole62 in condenser section 56 and a shaft 63 on arm 64 secured to bracket22 is passed through hole 65 in 'upper section It will be understoodthat the length of the tube is governed by the distance between the feedand the delivery rolls. When it is desired to vary this distance itismerely necessary to replace tube 48 with a similar tube of suitablelength. A tube having an inside diameter of one-half inch has been foundto be generally satisfactory for the processing of 1,000-8,000 deniertow. Crepe or other novelty effect yarn of 100-700 denier may beincorporated with this tow, if desired. The vertical terminal slot inthe condenser may 'be 1/16-3/16 inch wide.

To operate the machine packages of tow 66 and 67 on arbors 68 are placedin notches 69 of fork members 70 of the creel. Tow ends 71 and 72 aredrawn through guides 73 positioned on longitudinal channel 74 secured tothe lower side of creel support member 75.

The ends of tow are passed about one or more guides 7 6 positioned alongyoke 31 to apply a slight tension and to position the tow on the centerlines of the spindles. The ends are then passed into the nips of rolls11 and 14 and of rolls 12 and 15, respectively, and then into the nipsof rolls 11 and 25 and of rolls 12 and 26, respectively. The slivers arepassed through the nips of delivery rolls 111 and 114 and of deliveryrolls 112 and 115, respectively. Delivery rolls 111 and 112 are drivenat a substantially higher speed than feed rolls 11 and 12 to break thefilaments and to draft the resulting slivers to the extent required forthe direct production of spun yarn If the sliver is now laid above theupwardly facing slots of the tube assembly it will be drawn into thetubular member. After leaving the delivery roll system the slivers passthrough thread guides 77 to ring twisters 78 where they are convertedinto spun yarn.

If desired a second tow or thread 7101, differing in some respect fromthe first tow, may be combined with tow 71 in the drafting apparatus toproduce a novelty spun yarn. For example, if a crepe yarn is combinedwith untwisted tow the drafting apparatus will snap break the crepe yarnto produce spun yarn containing slubs of crepe yarn. It will beunderstood that more than one novelty eflect tow or thread may be used.

The tube confines the elements of the sliver to the normal drafting pathof the apparatus. When an apron or a trough is used in place of the tubeair currents may blow free filaments ends about, even causing them to becaught up by the running gear of the machine. When crepe yarn iscombined with untwisted tow the broken crepe ends tend to form coils orkinks which may be caught up by the running gear of the machine, orexert sufficient pressure against the side walls of a wide trough toprevent the continued passage of the sliver. In any event these crepeends do not remain properly positioned in the sliver to form the desiredslubs. The tube confines the crepe slubs to the sliver bundle to producea satisfactory spun yarn even when the'crepe yarn is of relatively heavydenier.

It is to be understood that a machine of this type consists of aplurality of the drafting and breaking places described arranged to forma double sided machine. The roll pressures at all places on the machineare the same because the pressure is applied through the commonmanifolds.

While I have described this invention in detail with respect to certainembodiments thereof, it is not desired to limit it to the detailsdescribed and illustrated except insofar as they are set forth in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A draft tube assembly fora tow breaking and drafting apparatuscomprising an elongated tubular member having a longitudinal slot, afirst section having a bore to receive said tubular member, means tolimit the movement of said tubular member in the bore, and a slotaligned with the slot in said tubular member, and a condenser sectionhaving a bore to receive said tubular member, the bore terminating in aslot aligned with the slot in said tubular member, means to limit themovement of said tubular member in the bore and a slot aligned with theslot in said tubular member.

2. A draft tube assembly for a tow breaking and drafting apparatuscomprising an elongated tubular member having a longitudinal slot and atleast one outwardly projecting fin, a first section having at one end abore slotted to receive said tubular member and at the opposite end anoutwardly flared opening communicating with th bore, means to limit themovement of said tubular member in the bore and a slot aligned with theslot in said tubular member, and a condenser section having at one end abore slotted to receive said tubular member and at the opposite end aflared opening communicating with the bore and terminating in a slotaligned with the slot in said tubular member, means to limit themovement of said tubular member in the bore and a slot aligned with theslot in said tubular member.

3. A draft tube assembly for a tow breaking and drafting apparatuscomprising an elongated tubular member having a longitudinal slot and anoutwardly proiecting fin disposed either side of the slot, a firstsection having at one end a bore slotted to receive said tubular memberand at the opposite end an outwardly flared opening communicating withthe bore, a shoulder to limit the movement of said tubular member in thebore, a slot aligned with the slot in the tubular member and means forsecuring said upper section in the tow breaking and drafting apparatus,and a condenser section having at one end a bore slotted to receive saidtubular member and at the opposite end a flared opening communicatingwith the bore and terminating in a slot aligned with the slot in saidtubular member, a shoulder to limit the movement of said tubular memberin the bore, a slot aligned with the slot in the tubular member andmeans for securing said lower section in the tow paratus.

breaking and drafting ap- 4. In a tow breaking and drafting apparatuscomprising a set of feed rolls and a set of delivery rolls for a vancinga strand of textile filaments, the delivery rolls running at a surfacespeed sufiiciently higher than that of the feed rolls to break thefilaments and to draft the resulting strand of fibers, and a draft tubeassembly disposed between the feed rolls and the delivery rolls, saiddraft tube assembly comprising an elongated tubular member having alongitudinal slot, a section adjacent the feed rolls having a bore toreceive said tubular member, means to limit the movement of said tubularmember in the bore, and a slot aligned with the slot in said tubularmember, and a condenser section having a bore to receive said tubularmember, means to limit the movement of said tubular member in the bore,and a slot aligned with the slot in said tubular member, the bore ofsaid condenser section terminating in an inwardly flared portionadjacent the delivery rolls.

5. In a tow breaking and drafting apparatus comprising a set of feedrolls and a set of delivery rolls for advancing a strand of textilefilaments, the delivery rolls posed between the feed rolls and thedelivery rolls, said draft tube assembly comprising an elongated tubularbore to receive said tubular member, means to limit the movement of saidtubular member in the bore, and a slot aligned with the slot of saidtubular member, the bore of said condenser section terminating in aninwardly flared portion adjacent the delivery rolls.

6. In a tow breaking and drafting apparatus comprising a set of feedrolls and a set of delivery rolls for advancing a strand of textilefilaments, the delivery rolls running at a surface speed sufiicientlyhigher than that to break the filaments and to draft the resultingstrand of fibers, and a draft References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,033,979 Dreyfus Mar. 17, 1936 2,081,997Hale et al. June 1, 1937 2,879,551 Hunter Mar. 31, 1959 2,932,858Kawabata Apr. 19, '1960

